KITSAP COURTS: Teen suspects may be tried as adults

* Three Bremerton teens are accused of tying up and robbing an 85-year-old East Bremerton couple.

By Michael Wagar

Sun Staff

If the prosecution has its way, three Bremerton boys, suspected of breaking into an elderly couple's home Tuesday evening, binding them with carpet tape and threatening to "blow your heads off" with a .357-Magnum, will be tried as adults.

Two of the boys, both 16, were arrested early Thursday morning. They both confessed to the robbery, police said. The third boy, 17, was picked up a few hours later. He declined to talk about his involvement, although a prosecuting attorney said the confessions implicated the third boy.

The 16-year-olds will have a court hearing in two weeks before a Kitsap County Superior Court judge to determine if they should be tried as adults. The third boy faces a probable cause hearing.

Kitsap County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Todd Dowell said the judge will consider the suspects' prior criminal records, ages, compare juvenile and adult length of sentence guidelines, likelihood of rehabilitation and the seriousness of the offense.

If convicted in juvenile court of first-degree assault and first-degree robbery, the suspects would serve a maximum of three years, 10 months. If convicted as adults, they would face a maximum of five years.

The following account was pieced together from police reports and an interview with the victims, both 85:

One of the suspects is the step-nephew of a man who had painted the victims' house a few weeks earlier.

On Monday, the day before the break-in, the two 16-year-olds stopped at the victims' residence, located in a quiet neighborhood near Harrison Memorial Hospital, and asked to use the phone.

The man recognized one of the boys. "They said their car broke down and they wanted to use the phone. I said, 'Step in. If that's the case, I'll drive you down and help you out.' "

The boys declined the ride. The man took the two boys downstairs, where he keeps a collection of rifles, to use the phone. The boys were interested in the rifles, so he opened up his case and showed them off. One boy said when he saw the guns, the idea of the robbery popped into his head, according to police.

The boys then left, only to come back the next evening at about 8:30, armed with tape and a gun, looking for the rifles and any money and jewelry stashed in the house.

One teen, wearing a dark mask, crawled through an unlocked window and let the others, also wearing masks, in through the back door.

"When they came in, we were sitting in the family room watching television," said the man. "He had a mask on and some type of camouflaged suit and a gun  a big one. He came right in. I looked up. He said, 'This is a robbery. Get on the floor.' He shook that big gun in my face."

The alleged robbers handed the woman a roll of carpet tape, and told her to tie her husband up. She complied.

They then taped the woman's hands. Finally, they wrapped tape around each of the victim's heads, across their glasses, cutting off their vision.

"One of them told me, 'If you don't tell me where your guns and money are, I'll blow your heads off,' " the man said. After going through his wallet, the robbers emptied the gun rack.

They then turned to the woman, who was wearing several diamond rings. One of the rings wouldn't come off as her fingers were too swollen.

According to the prosecutor, the boy said if the ring wouldn't come off, he would have to cut it off. The woman begged to have the boy find some dishwashing soap in the kitchen to help squeeze it off. The suspect granted the request, and slipped the ring off her finger.

The boys ransacked the house, demolishing the master bedroom upstairs. They stole eight rifles, three handguns, $100 in cash, assorted jewelry and the couple's car.

After the three left, the woman was able to break free. She went to a neighbor's house and called 911.

Despite the 30 minutes of terror, the couple escaped the incident unharmed.

"I feel so bad," the woman said. "I have prayed for these people. I feel so sorrowful that young people would do this. I hope they don't have the chance to do it again."

Shortly after the robbery, the suspects dumped the car and took the ferry to Seattle. Police believe they pawned the handguns and jewelry. The rifles were found Thursday at the home of the 17-year-old suspect.

Bremerton Police Lt. Terry Welling said his office treated the crime "right up there with a homicide." Police staked out the home of one of the boys, and when the two younger boys returned from Seattle, police picked them up for questioning. Welling said both waived their rights and confessed.

On Thursday, before Judge Jay Roof in Kitsap County Juvenile Court, as a prosecutor detailed the alleged crimes, the mother of one of the suspects trembled and tears ran down her cheeks. The son also wept.

Both of the boys who allegedly confessed were given $25,000 bail.

As a guard stood to take one of the boys back into the juvenile center, the boy turned to the judge and said, choking back tears and bewilderment, "I won't be released to my parents? I have to stay here?

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